The Megiddo Mission or Megiddo Church is a small American Restorationist denomination founded by L. T. Nichols in 1880 in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. The church's magazine is the ''Megiddo Message.'' Lemuel T. Nichols was born on October 1, 1844,

Goshen, Indiana Goshen ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart–Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend–Elkhart–Mish ...

near

Elkhart, Indiana Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 53,923 at the 2020 census. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana. It is the most populous city in the Elkhart–Goshen metropolitan area, which in tu ...

and was named after his father, Lemuel Truesdale Nichols Sr. – though it appears that the younger Nichols never used his given names. He founded his church in 1880. Nichols conceived an idea of spreading his message by cruising the Mississippi, the Ohio, and their tributaries in a three-deck steamboat, named the Megiddo. When Nichols died on 28 February 1912 at

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in northwestern Calhoun County, Michigan, United States, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a tota ...

, he was quickly succeeded by his assistant Maud Hembree, a female former Catholic convert from Oregon, who took over as pastor. Hembree died in 1935 and was succeeded as pastor of the Rochester church and editor of the magazine by Ella Skeels, Nichols's sister.

Beliefs

The Megiddo Church denies the

doctrine of the Trinity Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system. The etymolog ...

; Jesus is considered God's son and the Holy Spirit is seen as a divine power not a person. They also deny the

immortality of the soul Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess " biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a conviction that gods may be phy ...

, and believe in

resurrection of the dead General resurrection or universal resurrection is the belief in a resurrection of the dead, or resurrection from the dead ( Koine: , ''anastasis onnekron''; literally: "standing up again of the dead") by which most or all people who have died ...

and judgment at the return of Christ. The church does not practice

water baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three t ...

and practices communion once a year at

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

. Nichols expected the return of Elijah and rejected the idea of a new Elijah. Nichols is held in the highest esteem by the members of the Megiddo Church, and his birthday, October 1, is celebrated as a holiday second only in importance to Christmas.Patzwald Waiting for Elijah: a history of the Megiddo Mission 2002 "Given that Nichols expected the actual prophet Elijah to return and that he rejected the idea of a new Elijah, ... Since Nichols is held in the highest esteem by the members of the Megiddo Church, as a holiday his birthday is second in ..... According to an article in the Message, "Christmas Day and October 1 are memorable days at Megiddo. It may be a mere coincidence that the birthday of our honored leader comes in the fall, while that of our coming King occurs in the "

References

{{coords, 42.1351, -77.6506, display=title Religious organizations established in 1880 Restorationism (Christianity) Nontrinitarian denominations 1880 establishments in New York (state) New religious movements established in the 1880s